208 • 100 GREAT BUSINESS IDEAS
Make clear to everyone in your organization the skills they need
to possess and the results they need to achieve if they are going
to progress to the next level. This will help them succeed in their
career, and boost your business along the way.
The idea
Many organizations only pay lip service to career planning. Yet, at a
time when there is a shortage of the right people and skills, it really
does pay to “grow your own” talent. One example of this working
well is RBS Insurance, which makes clear to all of its employees:
- The skills that are needed at each level of management.
- The skills that need to be developed before moving up to the
next level. - The content of the role at each level and what it is that
individuals do.
In their book The Leadership Pipeline, authors Ram Charan, Stephen
Drotter and James Noel highlight six stages in the leadership journey:
self-leadership, people, manager, unit (individuals responsible for
the delivery of part of a business), business (individuals accountable
for the results of a business), and enterprise leadership (individuals
responsible for more than one business).
As individuals progress through the “leadership pipeline” they
encounter different “transition challenges”—for example, moving
(^92) THE LEADERSHIP